Newshound puts Colonie Center’s dog-friendly policy to test
COLONIE — Every so often, shoppers do a double take as they walk past.
That guy has a dog with him. In the mall!
But other shoppers and mall walkers at Colonie Center — and they seem to be in the majority — pay no attention to the furry visitor ambling down the main hall on a leash, ears flapping and tail wagging.
The mall has been gradually moving in a dog-friendly direction, first dropping its ban on pets a few years ago. But recently they’ve begun actively encouraging guests to bring dogs into the mall.
“This year we really wanted to amplify that welcome,” said Jensen Akey, marketing and business development manager. “Our goal is to connect more to our community. We realize how important dogs are to people in our community.”
There are limits. Canine visitors must be well-behaved and well-controlled.
But the policy is working out, Akey said, with more dogs coming into the mall and more into individual stores, about 30 of which display the welcoming pawprint sticker on their front windows.
The Daily Gazette sponsored an expenses-paid trip to the mall this week for Haggis Cropley, a semitrained black Lab puppy with paws like snowshoes and a bark like a howitzer.
Surprisingly, amazingly — thankfully — our junior newshound kept that voice quiet and kept those monster paws where they belonged as he sniffed out the story, behaving as a fine ambassador for his species.